Planetary Embryos in the Primordial Asteroid Belt: Constraints on Embryo Mass

Details Planetary Embryos in the Primordial Asteroid Belt: Constraints on Embryo Mass Planetary Embryos in the Primordial Asteroid Belt: Constraints on Embryo Mass

Sep 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.5806o&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #58.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.503

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Numerous studies have shown that the mass depletion, dynamical excitation, and radial mixing of the asteroid belt can be explained by the presence of planetary embryos in the asteroid belt during its early evolution [1,2]. Recent work [3] has shown that in the context of current models of Solar System formation and evolution (eg. the Nice Model [4]), the embedded planetary embryo model provides a much better fit to the observed asteroid belt than other scenarios, such as those involving sweeping secular resonances during solar nebula depletion.
However, recent high-resolution simulations of terrestrial planet formation frequently lead to the stranding of an embryo in the asteroid belt [5]. While that embryo would most likely be ejected from the asteroid belt at the time of the late heavy bombardment (LHB), if it was too massive then the asteroid belt would have been seriously disrupted. Our results suggest that a stranded embryo larger than several lunar masses would be inconsistent with current main-belt structure. Embryos of roughly a lunar mass or smaller, however, may remain in the asteroid belt up to the time of the LHB without leaving a significant observable signature. We will discuss the likelihood of stray embryos remaining in the asteroid belt up to the time of the LHB, the limits that can be placed on the mass and number of such planetary embryos, the results of new simulations that examine the dependence of the final state of the asteroid belt (mass depletion, dynamical excitation, and radial mixing) on embryo mass, and the implications of this work for models of planetary accretion in the inner Solar System.
References: [1] Petit (2001), Icarus 153, p.338. [2] Wetherill (1992), Icarus 100, p.307. [3] O'Brien (2007), Icarus 191, p.434. [4] Gomes (2005), Nature 435, p.466. [5] Raymond (2008), DDA 39, 17.03.

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